June Means Inspiring Speeches, Like This One

June 10, 2014

Perhaps one of the best things about this time of year (besides summer vacation) is all of the words of wisdom that come from individuals who we admire. June is synonymous with graduation ceremonies and where there are graduations, there are inevitably, graduation speeches.

One commencement speech that has gotten attention in the media as of late is Jim Carrey’s address to Marharishi University of Management graduates in Iowa.

In true comedian fashion, Carrey got a number of jokes in, including poking fun at the school’s practice of allowing time for transcendental meditation, or as Carrey put it, time “to slack off twice a day for an hour and a half.”

But what earned him a huge round of applause from the graduates and the admiration of viewers later, was some of the meaningful nuggets like this regarding concern over doing something bigger with your life that you imagine you can.

“Like many of you, I was concerned about going out into the world and doing something bigger than myself, until someone smarter than myself made me realize that there is nothing bigger than myself. My soul is not contained within the limits of my body; my body is contained within the limitlessness of my soul.”

He also talked about how his dad took the safe route becoming an accountant instead of a comedian, but fell on hard times nonetheless.

Carrey said, “I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

A great reminder, not only for graduates, but for everyone out there to always follow your dreams.